I'm interested not only the hard,
vast nonduality of "there's no one, there's nothing,
there's nowhere," but also that in which our
dreams, thoughts, and natural commitments in life take on the bearing
of nondual perspective: cocooning nonduality.

There is a book review of A
Gift for New Mothers: Traditional Wisdom of Birth, Pregnancy and
Motherhood, by Deborah Jackson. It's a bright and
stimulating book.

The second article is from a newspaper and
speaks of a million dollar study being conducted on marriage
and parenting.

The third article is an interview with Deepak
Chopra: "Consciousness creates perception,
cognition, moods and social interaction. Exploring consciousness
should be followed like a discipline," he says.

Highlights editor Michael
has landed safely in Taos after a long and challenging car drive
through strong desert winds. Hopefully he will cover next
Friday's edition. Have a good weekend.

--Jerry

Book Review by Jerry Katz

A Gift for New Mothers: Traditional
Wisdom of Birth, Pregnancy and Motherhood

In these pages -- which are bright, colorful
and lively, like the book's cover shown above -- are
very brief stories, revelations, and practical
offerings on how pregnancy, birth, and motherhood are viewed
and managed in traditional cultures. It is a fast, stimulating,
upbeat, and useful read. The author, Deborah Jackson, is a
journalist and mother of three.

This book will appeal to people who are
already part of a tradition of motherhood, as they will
enjoy a further connection with tradition, and are
bound to come across new and useful insights. It will also be
useful to the woman immersed in a busy, western style
life, who has little or no chance to slow down and make that
connection. For those mothers this book may kick-start their
intuition or deliver a fresh paradigm, a new way of experiencing
their life change.

I like the breezy style of writing which
touches on various cultures in meaningful ways:

"There are cultures in which childbirth
is a major social event. When Navaho Native American mothers
go into labour, the whole tribe gathers round to eat a meal and
enjoy the spectacle. Among the Gasque people of Spain, a mother
in labour is traditionally attended by her whole family. Weather
allowing, the birth takes place outside, near a running stream.
There is singing, story-telling and jokes to 'massage the mother
and baby with laughter'. Yemenite women expect their neighbours
and friends to visit during labour, to lend moral support, chant
prayers to Allah and help out if necessary. In Yucatan Maya women
in labour are not isolated from day-to-day life. They give birth
in a blanket, slung from the rafters for privacy... ."

This isn't to convince the woman
of the western world who is immersed in a corporate job and on
the go all the time, to sling anything from the rafters. The
intent is to give perspective. It's good to know how others
have walked a road you are walking. Perhaps the reader
will relax into the possibilities. In that sense it is like
reading a guidebook about a place you are going to tour; it
gives you a feel for the history, culture, and practices
associated with a new land.

Some suggestions and ideas could certainly
be acted upon, such as the planting of a birth tree, or
recognition of the benefits of colostrum: "This rich
pre-milk is produced in late pregnancy and for three days after
birth. .... For a few hours after birth, colostrum contains
enormous quantities of antibodies. In the first day it teems with
fatty acids, growth factors, vitamins, zinc, immune defences and
anti-infectious properties... ."

To give you a further idea of what this book
is about, here is a handful of selections from the index:
acupressure, candles, Greek myths, Inuit birthing
houses, May night celebrations, pre-natal bonds, seven-month
ceremonies, Trobriand Islanders, Zulus.

Whether or not this book results
in specific action from the reader, it will relax,
open, inspire, and delight the woman who is going to be a new
mother. Diverse, practical, not-so-practical-but-interesting,
fun, curious, stimulating, every woman experiencing pregnancy and
new motherhood will enjoy startling gems within this
treasure chest.

--Jerry Katz

A Gift for New Mothers: Traditional
Wisdom of Birth, Pregnancy and Motherhood

Spiritual DNA? BGSU researchers seek sacred building block to
family life

Marriage has been known as "holy" matrimony and
childbirth as a "blessed" event for as long as there
have been weddings and newborn babies. But is there something
more to those spiritual terms?

Dr. Annette Mahoney, a Bowling Green State University psychology
professor, calls religion's role in marriage and parenting an
aspect of family life that's been overlooked by social
scientists. Few researchers have studied it, let alone shown how
spirituality impacts families over time.

Now, with $1.2 million in funding from the John Templeton
Foundation, Mahoney and her Bowling Green colleagues Dr. Kenneth
Pargament, a psychologist, and Dr. Alfred DeMaris, a sociologist,
will embark on what is believed to be the first in-depth,
long-term study of the part religion plays in couples' transition
to parenthood.

"This is state-of-the-art social science research,"
according to Dr. Arthur Schwartz, vice president for research and
programs in the human sciences at the Templeton Foundation, based
in suburban Philadelphia.

The Foundation "is very interested in areas of spirituality
and religiosity that have yet to be examined or understood
scientifically," Schwartz says, adding that sanctification
of pregnancy and parenthood fits that description. "We know
so little about this area of human life that we wanted to fund
something that was scientifically rigorous."

The four-year project is designed to examine the impact of
sanctification of marriage, pregnancy and becoming a parent, and
will involve 160 couples in the Toledo, Ohio area.

Sanctification is defined as perceiving aspects of life to have
divine character and significance, or seeing life "through a
sacred lens"--the title of the project led by Mahoney.

Spiritual emotions such as gratitude, awe and humility are among
the implications of sanctification, as are investment in and
commitment to that particular aspect of life and access to other
spiritually based resources that help people cope effectively
with stress.

"If pregnancy's a spiritually meaningful event both
emotionally and mentally, we think it's going to lead to better
outcomes for the parent and the child," according to
Mahoney.

"The more people view the emergence of family through a
sacred lens, the more they'll invest in the family," she
hypothesizes.

The Foundation's hope, Schwartz adds, is that, regardless of
their findings, Mahoney and Pargament, already "so well
established in their field," will be regarded in future
years as having "blazed a new trail" in research of
sanctification of parenthood.

Every problem has a creative solution and every situation can be
improved through creativity, says popular author Deepak Chopra in
an interview with PRADEEP KUMAR

New
Age Supersage is how Time magazine described Deepak Chopra,
when it listed him alongside 99 others in its compilation of 'top
100 heroes and icons of the century'. Former president of the
erstwhile USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev described Chopra as one
of the most lucid and inspired philosophers of our time. It
is not statesmen alone who have found Chopra, a medical graduate
from New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences,
inspiring. From Hollywood actress Demi Moore to Tibet's Dalai
Lama have found the 58-year-old to be a good motivator.

I
just do what feels natural to me. I like singing in the bathroom.
Some people like my singing and they listen,' is how Chopra
described his works, to Weekend.

India-born
Chopra moved to the United States in 1970 to pursue his medical
studies. After working in many hospitals in different positions,
he went on to become the medical director of the Maharishi
Ayurveda Health Centre for Stress Management and Behavioral
Medicine. In 1993, after splitting from the MaharishiAyurvedaHealthCenter, Chopra published the bestseller Ageless Body, Timeless
Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old. He shot to instant
fame when he appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show to promote his
book and works  according to a news report, he sold 130,000
copies of the book in one day after he appeared on the hugely
popular television show.

In
1995, Chopra established The Chopra Center for Well Being in California,
which, in his words, was a formal vehicle for the expansion
of his healing approach using the integration of the best of
western medicine with natural healing traditions.

From
being a pioneer in mind-body medicine, Chopra is today sought
after worldwide as an expert speaker on subjects as diverse as
spirituality and world peace. He has written close to three dozen
books, which have been translated into 35 languages with over 20
million copies sold worldwide.

Weekend
caught up with Chopra to know more about him and his
philosophies.

I
perceive myself as someone who is constantly exploring
consciousness, in the same way as a biologist studying biology,
or a geologist studying the earth or an astronomer studying
stars. And I write about my explorations.

How
does one define consciousness?

Consciousness
is synonymous with life, not necessarily good life.
Consciousness, life, spirit, awareness are all synonymous with
each other. The more aware you are, the more creative you become.
Being creative helps you get all the things you want in life.
Hence, consciousness is creativity.

Is
creativity the answer to all the problems?

Every
problem has a creative solution. Every situation can be improved
through creativity. Look around and you see see creativity
everywhere.

Spirituality
is creativity directed inwards  to explore your intuition,
your vision, your ability to love and have compassion, your
ability to expand the experience of happiness and your ability to
have a sense of connection with the very mystery of existence.

Anybody
who achieves anything in life does it through creativity. They do
not achieve it through hardwork or by driving ambitions or
exacting plans  these are the hallmarks of failure.

You
were trained to be a doctor in modern medicine. But most your
work has been in alternative therapies. How did this happen?

My
goal has always been to give a scientific understanding to
various kinds of therapies. I would not use the term alternative
therapy. Instead, I would term them integrative therapy.

I
never ask people not to use allopathy. Although, many a times,
allopathy medicines are used indiscriminately.

It
was not difficult for me to get into Ayurveda. My training was as
a neuroendocrinologist, which is the study of brain chemicals. I
was learning that the molecules carry messages from the mind to
the body  whenever a thought moves, a molecule travels with
it. Ayurveda, incidentally, was talking about the same molecular
biological connection between the body and mind. Hence, the
principles of ayurveda was reinforcing what I was already
learning.

Didnt
you stop your medical practice for some time?

Yes,
I did. That was only for a short period of time. I stopped my
practice because people were complaining that I was being
selective. According to them, I was treating only movie stars. I
resumed my practise after sometime to see everybody, but movie
stars.

In
California, where I live, one has to pass an exam every two years
to held on to your licence. I have been holding on to my licence
for the last 25 years now. In spite of the fact that I am
involved in other stuff, I am still a doctor.

Is
Deepak Chopra a performer?

Some
people perceive so. I just do what feels natural to me. I like
singing in the bathroom. Some people like my singing and they
listen.

I
am passionately in love with what I do. I feel good and empowered
with it, and would love to share my experiences with people who
want to listen. There are many others who do not listen. There
are many who criticise, condemn, complain  well, that is
their business. There are people who think I am doing a good job,
and I think they are also doing their business. Whatever people
think  good or bad, it is their business.

Your
bathroom singing lessons come at a huge cost. The
course fee for your programmes are huge and certainly beyond the
means of the common man

Ten
per cent of every programme we do in the US is free. When I come
out of the US, it is up to the promoter to decide on the costs. I
have no control over it. Eighty per cent of my income goes to the
two foundations of mine, which work for many social causes. I
feel good about the expensive courses I do because they help
raise funds, which is invested in projects that benefit a lot of
people.

I
live in a country, which generates its income through trading and
manufacturing of weapons, and where army is the biggest industry.
The fact that I can make my money and compete with these guys by
doing something good, gratifies me.

So,
are your bathroom singing lessons a way of raising
funds for your foundations?

I
am involved in at least three philanthropies and they take most
of my time these days. I am in the autumn of my life, hence have
to change my priorities. We live in a silly world, which is full
of conflict, racism, prejudice and hatred. I live in a country
whose president is belligerent, arrogant and is one who believes
in unilateralism and militarism. In a way, I am grateful to that
because he is going to accelerate the relevance and the
legitimacy of the United States as a superpower. So, I am having
a good time, participating in all things to make people more
aware.

This
is then the right time for Deepak Chopra to excel.

It
has always been the right time. I am adaptable to how the
environment works. I believe that infinite flexibility is the
secret to reaching people. There was a time, when I was only
interested in mind-body medicine. I was then inclined towards
spirituality. Now, I am more interested in social issues, such as
social justice, conflict resolution and addressing economic
disparities.

Do
you consider yourself as a spiritual guru?

No,
I dont consider myself as a guru, but I am definitely
spiritual. Thousands have read my books and many have attended my
workshops. I must tell you that I have never moralised anyone. I
believe self righteous morality is the worst thing in the world.
There are too many fundamentalists doing that in the world. I
want to stay away from that.

From
spirituality to social causes. Isn't that a strange move?

These
are only extensions of spirituality. Spirituality, as I mentioned
earlier, is awareness. The more you expand your awareness, the
more global it becomes. Start from personal health, then
collective health, then ecological health and so on and so forth.
Health and holy mean the same. Holy means wholeness, which
includes everything. The word has nothing to with religion.

One
of the organisations I am involved with is Alliance for the New
Humanity. We are in the process of connecting non government
organisations (NGOs) around the world. We are trying to network
people to create a critical mass of public opinion. Critical mass
of public opinions will influence public policies, and even
government legislations.

You
are also part of the George Bush bashers club. Is that an easy
route for some instant publicity?

Well,
that is your interpretation. I live in a country which is slowly
becoming an island in itself. It has come to a point where you
feel embarrassed to claim, I am an American citizen'.

Ageing,
according to you, is more of a perceptual change. How do you
explain it?

Over
the years, the demographics of ageing has changed dramatically.
In the days of Roman Empire, the average lifespan was 28 years.
In the last century, it increased to be 48 years. Today, it is
much higher, thanks to proper nutrition and hygiene. Today, we
understand that biological markers for ageing is blood pressure,
cardio vascular conditioning, immune response, bone density, skin
thickness etc. And to an extent all these are reversible. You can
chronologically be 60, but biologically still look 45. This
situation has helped. What you perceive what you are influences
your biological process. One of the biggest crises in the world
today is perception. Every problem in the world is a problem of
perception.

How
does one overcome the problem of perception?

First,
you need to have the desire. Second, one needs to explore
consciousness. Consciousness creates perception, cognition,
moods and social interaction. Exploring consciousness should be
followed like a discipline.

A
term which you have used frequently is quantum healing. What is
quantum healing all about?

Healing
is a real phenomenon. You can give two patients the same drug for
the same ailment and they can give completely two results. This
is due to something called host response, which is a
biological creativity.

One
of the most profound things about people who recover is that they
have no fear, even the fear of death is many a times overcome by
some. Fear creates a casket of biochemical changes that destroys
the bodys immune system.

Quantum
healing is the biological creativity hat allows your body to heal
itself, which is what it wants to do. Everyday, your body gets
mutations of cancer cells. The body knows how to handle them and
hence most of them are not affected by the cancer cells. The body
has inner intelligence, evolutionarily developed over thousands
of years. When we interfere with this evolutionary intelligence,
we are prone to be affected by diseases.

How
big a brand is Deepak Chopra?

Very
big, it is a huge brand. I can accomplish so many things with the
brand. In fact, I am now considered an expert in branding. I was
recently invited by the Singapore government to help them in one
of their branding exercises.

Brands
are myths  embedded myths. Deepak Chopra is a myth. Myths
necessarily do not conform to reality.

Bill
Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, Hollywood stars are all your
celebrity clients. Where does this take Deepak Chopra?

Nowhere.
My wife and children do not take me seriously, which is important
to me.

Well,
they do believe in my principles but they do not buy the
celebrity status tag.

Would
there ever be a perfect world?

There
is nothing such as a perfect world. If it were, then all of us
would be doomed to eternal senility. All creativity comes from
discontent. Hence, I call discontent divine.